The Mirror Exercise and the Restructuring of the Parent-Child Relational Unit

Abstract

This article presents the mirror exercise as a method of updating, restructuring, and enlivening Parent-Child relational units. The exercise method is presented with a commentary and case illustration. The author puts the process in the context of Parent ego state introjection theory and treatment and the self-reparenting work of Muriel James as well as integrating Adult ego state theory. She emphasizes the importance of relationship as a therapeutic method, not specifically between the therapist and the client but as an intrapsychic experience of internal relating. The role and significance of the observing self or metaperspective in monitoring the experience and enabling Adult integration are also explored.

Keywords:

• Parent ego state
• Child ego state
• Parent-Child relational unit
• mirror exercise
• introjection
• restructuring
• integration
• integrating Adult
• observing self
• metaself

Disclosure Statement

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Adrienne Lee

Adrienne Lee, BA, PGCE, Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (psychotherapy), is a psychotherapist registered with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and also a Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming. She has been a mother, a university teacher, and a psychotherapist for more than 40 years and was one of the first people in the United Kingdom to practice transactional analysis. She is a founder member and past chair of the United Kingdom Institute of Transactional Analysis (ITA). She has been running training programs in TA since 1975, and together with Ian Stewart, she founded and is now director of The Berne Institute in Nottingham, United Kingdom. Adrienne has been a board member of the European Association for Transactional Analysis (EATA), on the EATA Professional and Training Standards Committee, and was one of EATA’s representatives on the board of the European Association of Psychotherapy (EAP) and on the European Commission of Certification (COC). Adrienne is an EATA Past President (July 2004–July 2007) and was awarded the EATA Gold Medal in 2010 and the ITAA Muriel James Living Principles Award in 2017. She can be contacted at The Berne Institute, 29 Derby Road, Kegworth DE74 2EN, United Kingdom; email: [email protected].